My cup runneth over...

No, not my cup of water:).  The Lord has been blessing and yesterday was a highlight.  A lady in the church asked if she could come over on Friday afternoon to say goodbye, since she was heading out of town and wouldn't see us on Sunday.  I thought we could probably squeeze it in between the last minute details of packing and making sure the house was ready for the Hawkins arrival.  Then she called back and asked if I could possibly come in to town with Elyssia and she would just feed us lunch while we visited.  We did as much as possible and then headed into town.  Scott needed me to pick up the top rails for the car, so it was going to work out well.  We arrived to find this:

A table set for 5?

I remembered to grab my camera after the main course of chicken, salad and gluten free bread.

individual servings of coffee, cocoa or tea.

The hostess-Sharon

Unexpected Guest #1-Brenda

Unexpected Guest #2- Kerry

 It was such a nice time visiting, enjoying delicious food and seeing all of Sharon's quilts!  Scott did some renos on their house and it was amazing.  I didn't think I should take pictures of all the rooms:)  Each one was just as lovely as the dining area though. Before we left they gave me things to give the children on the trip.

Bro. Hawkins making himself at home after the long drive.

Mrs. Hawkins reading to the kids.

Devotions.  Scott was King David, Elyssia and Caleb were servants and  Garrison was Mephibosheth.

Do any of you know of one left from the house of Jonathan that I can show kindness to?

Please excuse the dirty windows and van.  The car top carrier looks pretty good!

This afternoon Scott is showing the Hawkins around town and inside the church.  It's been fun to visit with them and catch up on all the news back in B.C.  We stayed up later than usual talking and ended up being more tired than usual this morning.  It's been okay though.  3 out of 4 came down with colds and coughs on Wed.  They didn't sleep so well last night and baby was awakened 3 times with her teething.  I'd gotten used to her sleeping through the night.  That's okay, we'll probably experience disturbed sleep a lot on the trip with all 6 of us in the same room.  Sam loves the Hawkins and will probably thrive with the extra attention.  Mrs.  Hawkins said that she loves dogs, so Sam will be one happy camper!  Another blessing was that the head of the Legion called Scott yesterday.  I thought it was probably about more funeral arrangements that Scott has been helping with.  He actually called to ask Scott to stop and pick up a package.  His wife has put together some special things for the kids to have on our trip!  I've never experienced anything like this.  God has blessed us so much in our every day lives and this is truly over the top, cup running over kind of blessings:).  We serve such an AMAZING God!  Have a great rest of the winter everyone.  We're hoping to run into spring somewhere along the way:).  Anything above -10 is going to feel like Spring, so I don't think we'll be disappointed(insert laughter here).  Til next time...

Another day gone by...

This one just seemed to disappear!  We started off together , Elyssia took a test and got an A+.  Then Scott headed into town to meet a friend for lunch.  He forgot his cell phone, so I ended up making a last minute trip in around 4.  Thankfully there was a turkey in the oven and I had that to look forward to when I got home.  The trip to town was quite successful.  I found a console to go in the van.  Our cupholders are broken and there's not much room for holding things.  When we put them down they tend to slide under our feet.  Not a good thing.  Scott also discovered that the accessories for installing the car top carrier were not inside.  It should have been a quick pick up, but the guy had trouble finding them and it took about a half hour.  I'll put pics up when it's all installed and packed up.  Getting so excited!!!

Garrison thought it was so funny to drink out of the tiny cup.  This angle makes him look tiny:)

Kiersten making as much mess as possible with her p-butter sandwich!

Fun with a box...

G's turn!

Me two!

Not me!  I'm outta here!

Getting all our pencils sharpened for the trip.  Nothing worse than a bunch of dull pencils!

Scott teaching the kids about the wishbone.

Ready, Set, Make a Wish!

The carnage left after I took all the meat off.  Sam is one happy dog tonight!

Scott showing how David danced in the streets,  Thankfully not like in the Bible story:))).

Elyssia-Michal shaking her head in disapproval.

Garrison a.k.a. Puss in Boots

  I was really excited to find a battery pack and charger for our camera on sale for $15.  It was Kodak and I figured it was a good deal.  When I got home I tried to put it in and the battery pack was too big!  Sooo, good think Scott is going back in for a dentist appt. tomorrow.  He can return it. I was looking forward to not having to purchase more batteries, but I guess it's not to be for now.  I guess I'll have to research it a bit more before I try again.  Elyssia earned her 15th sticker today, which means the little digital camera is all hers for the trip.  She had to earn it and she did it with time to spare:).  She's very excited and it will be interesting to see the trip from her perspective.  Pictures of a foot, a nose, etc...:)  I think she'll surprise us with some good ones though.
  Now I'll leave you with Garrison's story from yesterday:

                                             "Dangerous Zoo" 
                                         
                                       By: Garrison Holloway

  Once upon a time the Uncles went to the Calgary Zoo.  While they were there a big claw came.  Uncle Preston got attacked, but Uncle Kirk grabbed the claw and ripped it off of him.  He threw it back up into space.  The Uncles played with a little baby Kiersten.  Another big claw came towards Kiersten.  Uncle Kirk stopped the claw, kicked it and stomped on it.  A third claw came towards Uncle Preston, but Uncle Kirk grabbed it and used the claw to defeat the other claws.  Then they ate cookies, bananas and had some milk to drink(apparently that's the super hero's secret to great strength).  Uncle Kirk got a star badge and became sheriff of the Calgary Zoo.  Uncle Preston was his deputy and Kiersten lived happily ever after!
                                                      The End

Short and Sweet...

Tonight's post will be rather disappointing if you're looking for an epic.  I'll save Garrison's story for tomorrow and share briefly about our day.  We started off with a quick breakfast and tried to get right into the house straightening, homeschooling, laundry and other things on our to do list.  We had about a dozen things to remember to do in town and thankfully I only forgot 2 of them.  The wills are signed, the dishes are returned, the library books have been dropped off, a hard car top carrier was purchased, pictures to follow(after it's installed on the van), and we got to try out a different Chinese restaurant.  Scott just picked up some ginger beef and chicken fried rice, but it was just the right amount since the boys weren't all that enthusiastic about it.  It was okay, but I don't think I'll be writing any rave reviews for them any time soon.  On the way to Walmart, Scott called me, "Where are you?"  When I told the kids who called, they said, "why does he call so much?"  Elyssia said, "cause he loves mommy".  Garrison replied, "no, he's just bossy".  We laughed and laughed over this one.  Garrison says, "well, it's true, he's the boss and he's bossy!"  Just thought I'd share that with you before posting another painting pic and heading to bed.

Click to enlarge and see what I painted on the sidewalk.

Happy Trails To You...

Until We Meet Again....  Saying goodbye to the family today went pretty well.  It was harder when they woke up from their naps and had to be reminded that the family had left.  Kiersten went around calling, "Nana, Nana".  I think they'll all have plenty of stories to tell when we do meet again at the end of next month.  Scott got a call shortly after they left saying that one of the Legion veterans had passed away.  He couldn't order flowers today, since it was a holiday, but he took Elyssia to visit the wife in the hospital.  She was in there for some health problems and a neighbor went by to check on the guy and found that he had died.  Not sure why, but it was unexpected.  When Caleb heard it he asked why.  Garrison said, "because that's what people do when they get old, they die".  Caleb said, "well, Nana and Grandad won't die, cause I love them!"  We gave Kirk his painting for his birthday.  I should have taken a picture of him with it, since I avoided posting it before, in order to keep it a secret.  My lighthouse painting found a new home too!  I tried to give the little blue truck painting to Kirk, but Caleb said, "NO, that's my painting!".  Caleb seems to get attached to my paintings pretty quickly. I might have to stop showing them to him:).  He is encouraging though.  He usually says, "That's really nice mommy."  All 3 of the older ones are good that way.  Elyssia is begging to paint with me, so we'll have to see if there's time when the others are napping tomorrow.  Before it gets much later, I should post today's pics.  I'm not sure how many more posts I'll do this week.  There's quite a bit to do and I should focus on that.  Preparing everyone for a bit of a posting drought:). 

Kiersten "snuggling" the leftover waffles:).

I took them away and someone took this picture of her.  Sooo funny.

Sitting like a little lady next to Nana.

Getting ready to pray.

I'm getting sleepy.  Isn't it my nap time mommy?

Preston teaching us how to weave.

Household instruments come in handy!

Click to see how he added extra colors into it.

Kiersten took Preston's hat. 

 At the beginning of devotions Caleb almost knocked things off the mantle. Love this expression!

The new king Ishbosheth...

Stop chasing me Asahel!

 There was a picture of the other two surprised that Abner slew their brother, but it won't load on here.

We're mad at you!  You're a bad guy!

Ishbosheth is slain.

Abner comes over and tells David he wants to help him become king.

Abner is slain by Joab.

David is not happy!

You did a very bad thing Joab!(we'll talk about this pink sweater later!)  You were NOT supposed to kill Abner!

So, I'm the last one up, as usual, and it's getting to about that time again...

And the supporting actor award goes to...

The Uncles!!!  They helped with devotions tonight and definitely added that special touch.  We were laughing so hard it was hard to keep going with the story.  I'm thinking the kids will remember this one for a long time:).  Here are the pictures the kids in S.S., the new floor at the church and our devotions tonight:

Kiersten actually bit the top off the orange washable marker.  Good thing they're non-toxic!

Garrison's pic of David and Jonathan.

Elyssia colored and cut hers out.

Caleb was guarding his to give to an Uncle.  Wonder who got it?

ta da!  The new floors look amazing!  It was broken up concrete before.

The ladies washroom:).

The Men's washroom.  Scott will drywall it later on. (He also tried to replace the toilets, but the size was off.)  Maybe later.

Devotions-Saul was upset.

He told his servant to find him a witch.  They were forbidden, but the servant had heard of one in Endor.

Definitely not her usual role.

He asked her to bring Samuel from the dead so that he could ask him some questions.

She was shocked that Samuel did come.  Samuel told Saul that he was going to die the next day.

The enemy comes to steal the women from David's town. 

David's men are very upset with them because they lost their wives and the city was burned.

The servant that got left behind.  He was starving and wanted a cheeseburger and fries:).

David and his men bring him some food.

Now that you've eaten can you tell us where they took our women???

Yes, they're over there!

the camera was too slow, but this was David and his men attacking the enemy and getting their women back.

This "woman" was particularly troublesome and kept escaping the enemy.  They decided to give her back early:).  She fled to the rocking chair.

  Well, that wraps up our day. We got to sit around and talk for most of the evening after the children were in bed.  It's nice to have the time to talk without the little ones asking questions every couple seconds.  To see how people are truly doing and feeling.   It's now 20 after 10 and I should probably be heading to bed.  We're thinking about doing waffles with the salmon sauce and syrup for breakfast.  There's also a turkey that should be ready to go in tomorrow morning.  I think the leftovers should get us through the rest of the week.  Til next time...